China's rare earth magnet exports to the EU rose by almost 60%
Kyiv • UNN
China's exports of permanent magnets to the EU rose by 59.5% year-on-year in November, reaching 2,568.8 tonnes, after Beijing began issuing general licenses for their supply. At the same time, exports to the US decreased by 8.84%, while total global exports increased by 28.29%.
Exports of permanent magnets from China to the European Union surged in November, as Beijing last week confirmed it had begun issuing general licenses with longer terms for overseas shipments of these materials, which contain valuable rare earth elements and are essential components in numerous high-tech products, UNN reports with reference to the South China Morning Post.
Details
Total magnet exports to the EU last month rose by 59.5% year-on-year to 2,568.8 tons, according to data released on Saturday by China's General Administration of Customs. The corresponding export value increased by 60.3% year-on-year, reaching US$106.85 million.
On a monthly basis, the volume of magnet exports to the EU increased by 24.7%.
While the issuance of the first batch of general licenses for rare earth exports, allowing multiple shipments of critical minerals and products containing them over a specified period, appears to have led to an increase in China's supplies to Europe, exports to the United States have not seen a similar surge, the publication writes.
Data showed that the volume of permanent magnet shipments to the US last month decreased by 8.84% year-on-year to 581.8 tons, while the export value increased by 4.2% year-on-year to US$26.74 million.
Global exports of permanent magnets from China increased by 28.29% year-on-year to 6,149.95 tons in November, and their value increased by 37.8% to US$301.8 million.
China's near-monopoly status in global supply and processing of rare earth elements, key materials for the production of several technologically advanced products, including electric vehicles, smartphones, and spacecraft, the publication notes. Permanent magnets, which contain trace amounts of these elements, are in high demand.
China controls 90% of the supply of these magnets in terms of global market share, investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a November research report, calling this segment of the supply chain "the most difficult" to replicate due to the required technical expertise.
In a December 9 note, research firm Gavekal Dragonomics said that US President Donald Trump was concerned about the vulnerability of his country's economy to a ban on exports of these materials from China.
"Evidence continues to mount that Trump wants to move from confrontation with China to reconciliation… and that fighting a losing trade war can only hurt him in the 2026 midterm elections," the authors said, adding that export controls were not the answer.
While the restrictions "made it harder for China to build a domestic semiconductor industry," Gavekal noted, they did not help the US much in its competition with Beijing for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
"In the long run, the US is still bothered by China's rise, but it has not developed an effective strategy to manage the competition," the report said.